Definition of impossible (adj)

Bing Dictionary

• im·pos·si·ble
• [ im póssəb’l ]

1. not possible: not able to exist or be done
2. too difficult: very difficult to deal with and apparently without a solution
3. not endurable: unbearably difficult or not possible to endure

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it”.—George Bernard Shaw

Is it really ‘impossible?’

Could it be that it is just too difficult?

Could it be that it is very stretching?

Could it be that it will create great discomfort?

Could it be that it’s never been done?

Could it be that it demands so much more than you are willing (not able) to pay?

Could it be that it’s unheard of and foreign?

What is your ‘impossible’?

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” 

– Nelson Mandela

Someone once said that the black man can never be equal to the white man.

Others said that it is impossible for man to fly.

Some that a black man would never be President in the United States.

Still others that money can never be sent through a phone.

When my family retreated to the village when I was barely five years old, they said it was impossible for us to amount to anything.

Never mind what they say though. The question today is: What are you saying is impossible?

“To believe a thing impossible is to make it so.” 

– French Proverb

Of the recent past, what have you declared as impossibility in your sphere?

Come to think of it.

Can you picture the impossible being done? Let me use an example. You might think it is impossible say for you to own your own company. But take some time and imagine you being the head of your own company…

Is it a good thing?

Is it what you always wanted?

Are you satisfied with it?

Here is the thing. What you call impossible might not necessarily be impossible. Chances are that you do not have enough data. Chances are that someone else has done it. Chances are that you have not toyed with the idea long enough to intimately know exactly why it seems so impossible to you now.

I have heard people braggingly say, “The word impossible is not in my dictionary”. Well. You just said it! So it is there! What they mean actually is that they see everything as a possibility. Frankly, you and I need that word ‘impossible’ in our respective dictionaries. Here are my reasons.

1. Unquestionable Growth:

Great growth comes from occasionally facing impossibilities squarely in the face and staring them down. It is John Maxwell who famously said, “If we are growing, we are always going out of our comfort zones”. Nothing stirs up the comfort of your nest like a ‘seeming’ impossibility. If you and I will overcome an impossibility of any kind, it goes without saying that we must outgrow the impossibility in knowledge and stature.

2. Unfolded Self:

The real you stands up. In the thickest of pressure, all the impurities are gone. Your entire swagger becomes worthless. Finally, we can only see who you really are. Most importantly, you can only see what you are really made up of. This is much needed than many other things that we deem important in life. When you face impossibility, your inner core is revealed. When you overcome it, your inner core is affirmed, strengthened and enhanced. Don’t we all need this?

3. Down with the Props

All Pretense Fades: In other words, what really matters to you comes to the fore. A life that is mediocre largely is made up of smart dodges any time impossibility shows up. However, when you embrace the challenge and take it head on, you tend to crystallize exactly what matters to you in life.

4. Crack

Impossibilities always start like they are impregnable and should not even be attempted. But of the few who have faced up just one impossibility and watered it down by relentless focus, they will never have to do it again. These are the people who can now say that impossibility is not part of their vocabulary. They have finally cracked the code of success. Remember the Life Signatures definition of success? Success is the continuous mastery of challenges. I know it sounds like a struggle. It is. Anything less is a façade.

5. Divine Participation

Everything impossible in our natural realm is possible in the divine realm. Frankly, I need the Divine in my life in an ever increasing measure. In fact, if I can come to the place of partnering with the Divine, in an ever increasing degree, I would be very happy. My pastor normally says that one of the ways you can know that you heard a command from the Divine is that what is to be done is impossible. The other two factors are that it is too expensive and that it is unreasonable.

Every time you face the impossible is the opportunity to get deep in your relationship with the Divine. Let me say this: All that is material today will fade away. All that is immaterial and from the divine will eternally stay.

Question: Do you think you need to re-look at your impossibilities one more time?